1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film magnetic head, a head gimbal assembly, and a hard disk drive.
2. Related Background Art
A thin-film magnetic head provided with an electromagnetic transducer for writing and a magnetoresistive device for reproducing is configured so as to float up from a hard disk, which is a recording medium, at the time of recording/reproducing with respect to a hard disk drive. Specifically, the thin-film magnetic head is mounted to a gimbal, which is attached to a leading end part of a flexible suspension arm, so as to construct a head gimbal assembly (HGA). As an airflow accompanying the rotation of the hard disk runs under the thin-film magnetic head, the suspension arm flexes, whereby the head floats up.
As hard disks have been achieving a higher density, the gap between the thin-film magnetic head and a hard disk, i.e., the head flying height, has been decreasing from 20 nm to 15 nm, and further to 10 nm, thereby approaching its limit.